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That the two channels were targeting the Saudi audience was evident from the number of Saudi scholars they had lined up for the season.

Al-Resalah has about 10 Saudi scholars.

“The Saudi audience is a difficult one … if we succeed here then we would be able to succeed elsewhere,” a station executive said.

Iqraa, meanwhile, has lined up six Saudi scholars.

The competition between the two channels was obvious in the statistics they provided, both claiming to lead the list of religious channels. Al-Resalah claimed to top the list of religious channels in the Arab world and ranked the second only to the popular Al-Majd TV in the Kingdom.

But Iqraa general manager Mohammad Salam claimed that his channel topped the religious channels and is 12th among all Arabic channels. There are over 500 religious channels from 16 different Arab countries. The numbers, he said, are accurate because they were provided by the Arab States Broadcasting Union.

The channel that tops all religious channels in the Kingdom is Al-Majd TV, a Saudi-based station. Al-Majd is a conservative channel that uses audio effects. The channel is free of music, and it has no women.